1) The Strobotop is a cool top-based toy and a variable speed strobe gun developed by artist Rufus Butler Seder. Basically you add an illustrated disk to the Strobotop, give it a spin, and then point the strobe at the spinning pictures. You'll see different animation effects depending on the relationship of the speeds of the spinning Strobotop and the flashing strobe gun. (As you can see in the YouTube video below.)

I originally bought the basic Strobotop for my seven-year-old daughter, but everyone in the family has really enjoyed experimenting with the different animation disks that come with the set. As an exhibits guy, I also appreciated the little design features built into the Strobotop: the cut-out notches along the edges of the top that make it easier to insert and remove the animation disks, as well as the simple gravity switch that only allows the strobe gun to work when it is pointed downward (and not up in your Dad's face!)

2) The Arduino Cookbook"Arduino" is the generic name for the open source microcontroller boards (plus the free software development environment) that lets anyone (really!) start experimenting with physical computing.I've just started to scratch the surface of all the possibilities of using Arduino in my own exhibits/design work, and I'm really finding it challenging and enjoyable in a good way.

Basically Arduino lets you easily get computers to interact with the real world. You can use Arduino to make cool interactive objects that can sense inputs from switches, sensors, and computers, and then control motors, lights, and other physical outputs.

Arduino has been a boon to artists, makers, and exhibits people in providing a way to (relatively) quickly and cheaply translate their creative ideas into the powerful world of physical computing.

While there is a great deal of information and sharing about Arduino tools and techniques available online, for myself I also like to have a handy reference book or two nearby. And that's where the excellent Arduino Cookbook comes in. Written in a style that makes it accessible to both the Arduino expert and newbie alike, the Cookbook provides a great reference and road map for creating Arduino projects.

I hope you have a chance to explore both the Strobotop, and the Arduino Cookbook. Have your own suggestions for cool stuff that you'd like to share? Let us know about them in the "Comments" Section below!

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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

And I don't mean the one about "S/he who has the gold, rules." I mean the one about treating others in the way you'd like to be treated --- especially when it comes to sending out RFPs (Request For Proposal) for people to respond to, or if you're the institution or person crafting a solicitation.

Several years ago, I edited the Spring 2007 issue of NAME's (National Association for Museum Exhibition) journal, The Exhibitionist, called "The RFP Issue" which was (you guessed it!) all about writing and responding to RFPs. In addition to a wide range of articles, the issue also included several boilerplate examples of RFPs, contracts, selection matrices, etc. (Lucky you, it's all online now to download for free at the NAME website.)

In the months I spent re-reading and editing the articles for The RFP Issue, it was disheartening to keep coming back to variations on two common themes: 1) Institutions that sent out literally dozens and dozens (if not hundreds) of solicitations, and
2) Institutions that never notified respondents after a final selection was made.

Even if you don't feel, like I do, that for the most part, the RFP process is an archaic, legalistic waste of time, why would you treat potential creative partners in this way? (And don't even get me started about the wasteful notion of requiring multiple hard copies of a proposal in addition to digital versions ...)

In the first case, by requesting a large number of people to respond to your RFP, you know that you are wasting many people's time, but even worse, you will not be able to carefully and thoughtfully review such a large number of responses. (Ideally, you should be striving for the smallest number of "best fit" responses possible to your solicitation, not a cattle call.)

In the second case, if people spent their limited time and resources to craft a response, couldn't you or your institution display the common courtesy of sending out a boilerplate email to the groups or individuals who weren't selected? (For example, "Thanks for submitting, we're sorry you weren't selected, but we look forward to opportunities to work together in the future ..."

This lack of civility happens much more often than it should in the proposal process, especially given the relatively small museum/exhibits community. Perhaps it's no wonder that one of the articles from The RFP Issue was entitled, "Why We No Longer Do RFPs"

In any event, I hope the next time you might find yourself in charge of an RFP or proposal process, or something similar like a hiring/internship process, that you remember that there are real people involved, and even if they aren't selected, they'd like to be treated with professionalism and respect.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Soon, the last person remaining in the "Exhibits Department" at the Maryland Science Center (MSC) in Baltimore will be shifted out of their current position. (If you can call what is now just one person a "department" --- until a few months ago, there used to be an actual department of exhibit designers and developers at MSC.)

So one of the larger science centers in the U.S. will not have an in-house Exhibits Department to design/develop/fabricate new exhibits. Instead, the Maryland Science Center will have an "exhibit maintenance group." That seems both sad and unfortunate to me. Doubly so, because it's unlikely that the Science Center field, in particular, or the Museum field, in general, will publicly discuss and wrestle with the ramifications of what's going on in Baltimore.

I'd like to share the museum's side of things --- the thinking about some grand institutional reorganization going on in Baltimore --- some clever new approach to designing and developing exhibitions. But honestly, after persistently sending emails and leaving phone messages with the Museum's CEO, Van Reiner, and various administrators and departments, I've gotten no response on the subject.

That is, until today when I contacted the PR firm that works with the Museum to see if I might finally get any sort of comment on the elimination of the MSC Exhibits Department. Lo and behold, a few minutes later I finally did receive a response from Christopher Cropper, the Senior Director of Marketing at the Maryland Science Center.

Here it is: "Thanks for your calls about the exhibits department at the Maryland Science Center. The Maryland Science Center policy does not allow comment on decisions related to employment. Therefore, no one will be able to answer additional questions about our exhibits department."

Fair enough --- I know when I've been given the brush-off, but that doesn't prevent me from posing a few questions about MSC's precipitous actions:

• Certainly these are tricky times for museums, but does it make sense to respond to budgetary pressures by vacating your institution's internal capacity to develop and design exhibits?

• Is it fiscally and professionally responsible to "outsource" wholesale the functions of an entire Exhibits Department? Will that lead to "better" exhibits?

• Given that the ASTC Conference is being hosted by Maryland Science Center later this year, might MSC staff be willing to share their thoughts on their institution's future approaches toward exhibition development with their museum peers? If not, I hope we as a field are forthright in discussing the consequences of MSC's decisions to eliminate their Exhibit Department during the Conference.

Tricky times, indeed.

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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

My pal Clifford Wagner is taking his wonderful "Garden of Gizmos" traveling exhibition off the road and offering it up for sale to a good home. This exhibition has been touring for several years and museums (and museum visitors!) always love it. The whimsical show blends art, science and nature, but while it's easy to experience, it doesn't fit neatly into a "quick pitch" marketing campaign.

So, Clifford has concluded that it would be more effective to have a museum buy the entire set-up and mount Garden of Gizmos as a permanent exhibition, rather than a traveling show, and I thought I'd help him spread the word by posting on my blog.

As you can see from the video of Garden of Gizmos on Clifford's website, the exhibition is really captivating with 28 professionally painted custom mural wall sections to set the scene, and 18 individual hands-on interactives that are each compelling and beautiful in their own right.

Clifford would like to sell Garden of Gizmos as a complete package and will guarantee its operation for a full year from the date of installation. (But if he's unable to sell the exhibition in its entirety, he'd also be willing to entertain offers on individual exhibit elements.)

This would be a wonderful addition for the right museum, so if you're interested or would like more information, feel free to contact Clifford or myself for specific information about pricing and components.

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